Eventually a favorable report on 'Esperanto as an Intemational Auxiliary Language' was prepared by the Secretary-General of the
League. The report found the language to be widely used inter- nationally and asserted that Esperanto was much easier to learn than any other language. Its use was encouraged in the schools. But again the French delegate objected, acting on orders from his government to oppose any language other than French. In the end the matter was referred to the League's Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, which refused to recommend Esperanto because it feared that the learning of an auxiliary language would discourage people from studying national languages. Largely under the pressure of French nationalism, the League of Nations let the matter drop.
Zamenhof would not have been surprised. In 1891 he had cautioned the Esperantists not to wait for the help of important persons or governments in the belief that the success of Esperanto depended on such assistance. On the contrary, Zamenhof had said, they would take notice only after the movement became successful on its own.
Although the League of Nations would not recognize it as an official intemational auxiliary language, Esperanto gained recognition and support in other quarters. In 1924 Persia (no doubt through Edmond Privat) introduced a resolution that Esperanto be recognized as a 'clear language' for telegraphy, which was unanimously accepted by the League of Nations as well as the Universal Telegraph Union. The Intemational Labor Office, which was supported by the League, began to use Esperanto, as did various commercial and scientific organizations. Later, when the French govemment reversed its hostile attitude, the French Academy of Sciences passed a resolution supporting Esperanto.
Although the fundamental structure and grammar of Esperanto remained unchanged from the form in which Zamenhof had first stated them, as the language was increasingly used, it grew in vocabulary. Zamenhofs first word list had contained about 900 roots; by 1930 an Esperanto dictionary contained 3,800 roots, from which about 40,000 words could be formed.* But Esperanto had become much more than a language. It was a cultural movement complete with local, national and intemational institutions, its own history and cherished traditions. The 'practical and commercial utility' of Esperanto was given a new twist as 'Esperanto' cigarettes, made in Scotland, came on the market ('La intemaciafumaĵo!' the advertisement cried - 'The international smoke!'), and in Britain one could purchase Cadbury's 'Esperanto' chocolates at the local confectioner's.
More important, and far more lasting, Esperanto also had its own literature. In the first few decades of Esperanto's life, a great amount of literature had been translated into the intemational language, not just
* The Plena illustrila vortaro de Esperanto ('Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto'), published in 1970, contained 16,000 roots, ofwhicn at least 160,000 words could be formed.
from Western European languages, which shared linguistic roots with Esperanto, but from Chinese, Japanese, Armenian, Hungarian, Russian and Polish, among others. The work of translators had shown Esperanto's potential for literary expression, as well as its ability to make a diversity of national literatures accessible to a wide inter- national audience through a single translation.
After World War I, original Esperanto literature began to flourish. Several literary 'schools' sprang up, the most important of which was the Budapest School, whose major figures were two Hungarians: the poet Kalman Kalocsay, a medical doctor by profession; and Julio Baghy, a poet, novelist and actor. The literary journal of the Budapest School was Literatura Mondo (Literary World), which published some of Lidia's short stories during the 1930S.
After Klara's death, the Esperantists hoped that members of the Zamenhof family would continue to take part in the Esperanto movement personally. While no one could replace Ludwik Zamenhof in their hearts, some hoped that Adam would carry on his father's work for Esperanto as he had followed in his father's footsteps in medicine. Adam knew the language well and had been active in the movement during his school years, translating works of Pushkin and helping his father with correspondence and the Directory of Esperantists. But now Adam's medical practice left him no time for Esperanto activities.
Zofia also knew Esperanto fluently. Like her brother, while she was growing up she had helped her father, especially with his library. Although she kept informed about the movement and went to the yearly congresses, she too was busy with her medical practice.
Shortly after Klara's death a Warsaw Esperantist, Edward Wiesenfeld, published a collection of biographical sketches of the Zamenhof family called Galerio de Zamenhofoj (Gallery ofZamenhofs). Beginning in January 1925, it ran in installments in the intemational Esperanto newspaper Heroldo de Esperanto (Herald of Esperanto). In it Wiesenfeld gently chided the young Dr Adam Zamenhof for not taking over his father's role in Esperanto. He also lamented that Zofia 'does not actively take part in Esperanto life'.
In the edition of Heroldo for February 14, the chapter about Lidia appeared. Wiesenfeld, who had been present when Lidia spoke up at the Vienna congress, described the twenty-one-year-old 'Miss Lili' as 'in character and temperament. . . typical Zamenhof, only somewhat unrefined, which is explained by her youth . . .' 'Esperanto interests her,' Wiesenfeld wrote, 'and she is the only Zamenhof child active in the intemational language . . . After retuming from Vienna, her fervor for Esperanto grew even more, and we hope to have in her one of the most fervent pioneers of the Esperanto cause on Polish soil.' Wiesenfeld's perceptive conclusion was: 'The youngest, but the most promising.'
One wonders what might have made him call Lidia 'unrefined'. Perhaps that independence of spirit which had made her a determined and sometimes stubborn child now seeitied too forthright and assertive for a young lady. Though Wiesenfeld excused her rough edges as a sign of immaturity, Lidia seems to have been a serious young woman who was deeply concemed with the gravest issues of the time, and who had little use for frivolous pursuits.
By the summer of 1925 the blond braids of childhood were gone. And the youthful, tousled curls she had worn, with a defiant expression, in the photograph that appeared in Gallery of Zamenhofs had been replaced by the short, bobbed style of the 1920S. She had inherited much of her father's looks, unlike her sister Zofia, who resembled their mother. Lidia was quite short - about five feet - and petite, with her father's thoughtful blue eyes. In later years, people would say she was *exactly his image'. She had a prominent, jutting chin which accentuated her air of determination.
Lidia had finished her course work at the University of Warsaw. In the autumn, she would take her exams and receive the degree of Magister Juris - Master of Law. But in Poland a degree in law did not lead as directly to a profession as a degree in medicine. Thc Polish bar association was strict about admitting Jews - very few were accepted. If she wanted to pursue a career as a lawyer, she would have to work in a law office for several years before she could begin to practice. Because studying law had been her mother's idea, and she did not want to become a lawyer, she probably did not give the idea much thought. Perhaps that summer, as she worried about her final examinations and anticipated graduation, she wondered what she should do afterward.
Lidia seems never to have considered simply getting married and having children. At that time, of course, it was quite unusual for a woman to have any goal other than becoming a wife and mother. If a woman did choose to work in a profession, that choice usually required foregoing marriage, as it was generally believed that a woman could not have both a family and a career. In the Zamenhof home, however, it seems to have been expected that each person would do some kind of work which was of service to humanity, and in the extended Zamenhof family there were several two-career families - often both spouses were doctors. Yet, neither Zofia nor Lidia ever married. This also was not unusual in the Zamenhof clan. Many years later Julian's wife, Dr Olga Zamenhof, recalled that there were at least six Zamenhof women who did not want to marry at all.